Visualising the right to protest

Abstract

With its vast network of canals, Thailand’s capital Bangkok once earned its nickname as ‘Venice of the East’ during the nineteenth Century. Although many of the ‘khlongs’ (canals) have long been filled in to form roads, enough remains of their function to stir the hope of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to ‘revive’ the city’s reputation. Under the plan to modernise the network of waterways and promote water transport as a primary means of transportation, about 50,000 residents along nine canals are required to relocate. After many attempts, the last round of orders by the military government, BMA is finally going ahead with its plan in 2015. From an ethnographic perspective employing visual methods, this paper aims to explore urban interventions through the ‘presence’ of graffiti in the area of Chumchon Rim-Naam, more generally the relationship between eviction and graffiti under the military government. It pays close attention to socio-political discontent and counterculture through the lens of daily class struggle. Moreover, it attempts to examine the experiences of those impacted by eviction and the stories of those canal squatters who are victims of this injustice. For the authority, graffiti that appears to come in the form of a political statement has become more than just a public nuisance. The paper demonstrates that in embracing the concept of visual politics, and to further crystallise their roles in and relationships to the socio-political movement, there is the need to examine the city through visual methods critically. The specificities of visual tools and aesthetic experience in the contentious political times in which we live can and have been utilised strategically and instrumentally to mobilise people's opinions, memories, experiences and their social relationships.

Keywords:

• graffiti
• visual politics
• social media
• eviction
• militarisation
• Thailand

Acknowledgements

My acknowledgement goes primarily to the residents, for their active and powerful movement that so inspired me. I am grateful for the work of the Thai media for their bravery in documenting this period of Thai history. A special note of thanks should also be given to Kai Maew for his powerful political satire cartoons. I would also like to thank Myrto Tsilimpounidi and Anna Carastathis, without their initiative, it would not have been possible to complete this special feature.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Piyarat Panlee

Piyarat Panlee is lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Kasetsart University. Email: [email protected]